The 911 Good Samaritan Law must be strengthened to save lives.
The threat of legal action prevents people from calling 911 in an overdose situation. Since 2022, we’ve been working with lawmakers to sponsor legislation that would prioritize saving lives. In the 2024 legislative session, we had bipartisan support for bills in the Assembly and Senate. The bills were a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the bills did not make it to the floor for a vote. Read more about what happened in our 2024 legislative debrief. See the list of bipartisan lawmakers and other organizations that support the bills.
How to Fix the Law
Clarify that providing aid includes good faith assistance for another person experiencing a suspected drug-related overdose.
Friends or family who aid an overdosing person at the scene should be defined as “aiders” even if they did not make the 911 call. This will encourage more individuals to remain at the scene and provide assistance and support during an overdose, with naloxone or other first aid.
Provide immunity for arrest, charges and prosecution for aiders.
Research shows that Good Samaritan Laws are most effective at reducing opioid overdose deaths when they provide arrest immunity to those seeking aid during a witnessed overdose. This reduction in overdose deaths is not seen with only prosecution and/or charge immunity.
Do not require timelines for aiders to call 91
Requiring aiders to call 911 “immediately” for legal protections, opens the door to confusing interpretations by law enforcement and courts. Uncertainty about the law will make people hesitate to call 911. In addition to fear of legal action, witnessing an overdose can be traumatic. People may not respond immediately because of the shock.
Provide immunity from arrest, charges, or prosecutions for the overdose survivor. Abolish involuntary treatment.
Overdose survivors should not be coerced into treatment. Survivors may not have insurance or availability for treatment in their area. Forced treatment and jail can cause job loss and lead to further life disruptions.
Worse yet, some studies show higher overdose rates after forced treatment.
Substance use disorder is a chronic condition. We do not coerce medical interventions on people with other chronic health conditions, such as diabetes, heart disease, etc
Provide immunity from parole, probation or extended supervision revocation for aiders and overdose survivors.
Aiders who are on paper should have no barriers to calling 911 to save a life. Overdose survivors who are on paper should not be prosecuted or incarcerated when their only reason for interaction with law enforcement was in the event of an overdose.
Wisconsin has changed 911 overdose protections three times in the last ten years. Let’s get it right this year!
The overdose Good Samaritan law was initially enacted in 2013 as part of the HOPE (Heroin, Opioid Prevention and Education) Agenda legislation. The intent of the law is to save lives by encouraging people (“aiders”) to get help for a person they believe is overdosing. The 2013 law gave aiders immunity from criminal prosecution for possession of controlled substances or drug paraphernalia. Overdose survivors had no legal protections.
The law was amended in July 2017 to add protections for aiders and overdose survivors. Unfortunately, the 2017 law also added restrictions on what people must do to qualify for the law’s protections, creating confusion about immunity and revocation. The 2017 protections sunset in July 2020. Currently, 911 callers only have immunity for possession — and only if they are not under supervision.
Overdose deaths are at a record high in Wisconsin. We need to make saving lives a priority and remove barriers for people to call 911 in an overdose emergency.
| WI Good Samaritan Protections | 2013 | 2017 | 2020 | Coalition Recommended |
| Aider- immunity from arrest or charges: paraphernalia, possession of controlled substance, or masking agent | x | |||
| Aider- immunity from prosecution: paraphernalia, possession of controlled substance, or masking agent | x | x* | x | x |
| Aider- immunity from parole, probation or extended supervision revocation | x* | x | ||
| Overdose Survivor – immunity from arrest or charges: paraphernalia and possession of controlled substance or masking agent | x | |||
| Overdose Survivor – immunity from prosecution: paraphernalia, possession of controlled substance, or masking agent | x+ | x | ||
| Overdose Survivor – immunity from parole, probation or extended supervision revocation | x^ | x |
Read the “fine print” previous laws required for legal immunity.
*Immunity is only granted if the aider attempts to get help “immediately”
+Immunity available via deferred prosecution if the aided person completes a treatment program
^Immunity is only granted if the aided person completes a treatment program as a condition of probation, parole, or extended supervision. If the individual can’t access treatment they go to jail for no less than 15 days.